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Friday, June 10, 2005 Reuters piece on the rise of the graphic novel. Old news, really, but its nice to see GN's get some recognition. Buying a GN sure beats running to the comic store every couple of weeks for the monthlies, which are often not worth the price. If it was up to me, the monthlies would be discontinued and comics would be treated just like books: published dates, reviews, etc instead of classic monthly serial format. Then we can finally drop the "comic" word. What's so funny about a genre that's 90% science fiction anyway? But Vertigo Executive Editor Karen Berger had no such scruples, describing her target audience as "smart, hip, literate, into pop culture, into reading, into film, people who are just into cool contemporary fiction." @ 04:26 AM CST [Link] Krugman on the new age of robber barons and their propagandists. Somewhat related to this earlier post of mine. I'll have more to say on that another day, but for now let me just point out that middle-class America didn't emerge by accident. It was created by what has been called the Great Compression of incomes that took place during World War II, and sustained for a generation by social norms that favored equality, strong labor unions and progressive taxation. Since the 1970's, all of those sustaining forces have lost their power.See also: More oil! A giant SUV parks illegally in front of me with "More Oil" customized plates. Oddly enough it was full of Islamic women. Did I just run into relatives of the Saudi regime or one of the most cynical license plates out there? @ 04:06 AM CST [Link] 30 things you didnt know you could do on the internet. This is old news to me, but I'm sure its valuable to non-web junkies. I can't tell if this is product placement or not. For instance, they mention Panda's web-based anti-virus which is not free, but not Trend Micro's which is. See also: The web application list. Wow, this is a really nice resource. @ 03:34 AM CST [Link] Thursday, June 9, 2005 When geeks have a missed connection. Part I, a reply, and the eventual "stfu, dork." @ 05:55 PM CST [Link] Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Newsweek's departing Baghdad bureau chief on the Iraq mess. Worth reading. The four-square-mile Green Zone, the one place in Baghdad where foreigners are reasonably safe, could be a showcase of American values and abilities. Instead the American enclave is a trash-strewn wasteland of Mad Max-style fortifications. The traffic lights don't work because no one has bothered to fix them. The garbage rarely gets collected. Some of the worst ambassadors in U.S. history are the GIs at the Green Zone's checkpoints. They've repeatedly punched Iraqi ministers, accidentally shot at visiting dignitaries and behave (even on good days) with all the courtesy of nightclub bouncers—to Americans and Iraqis alike. Not that U.S. soldiers in Iraq have much to smile about. They're overworked, much ignored on the home front and widely despised in Iraq, with little to look forward to but the distant end of their tours—and in most cases, another tour soon to follow. Many are reservists who, when they get home, often face the wreckage of careers and family.Funny how the pro-war types are seldom pro-enlistment. Why don't we hear "I will go enlist" from these people instead of "freedom is on the march?" I guess those magnetic stickers and head-in-the-sand sayings sure beat serving in a war they claim to support. @ 01:53 PM CST [Link] HAL-5 exoskeleton suit on display. Looks like University of Tsukuba is pretty serious about exoskeleton technology. Earlier New Scientist article here.
See also: Why carry over the threshold? Smells a bit fishy to me, but old traditions are usually crazy. @ 01:47 PM CST [Link] Monday, June 6, 2005 @ 09:05 PM CST [Link] Celebrity caricature photoshops. Gotta love the horse-faced Neo. See also: Great gallery of vintage drug ads. @ 08:59 PM CST [Link] Tankless scuba device proposed. This is making the rounds and looks interesting. It uses the concept behind Henry's law to release gas from liquid. See: What is Henry's Law. Its not exactly fluid breathing, which was tested on animals in the 60s. Fluid breathing hasn't been perfected yet, but has been used in medicine. And in the sci-fi movie, the Abyss.
@ 08:49 PM CST [Link] Sunday, June 5, 2005 Freakonomics author is trying to teach monkeys to use money. Oh man, this is the first step towards a planet of the apes scenario. via robotwisdom It really shouldn't be any surprise to anyone who has read The Selfish Gene. Dawkins may not have talked about economics specifically, but addresses the very same concepts (selfishness vs altuism and strategies for survival) within the animal world. See also: Amazon's page for the book Freakonomics. Did you know low level drug dealers make less than minimum wage with something like 1000x the risk of being killed on the job? Also: Classic Straight Dope question on if we're living in a new age of robber barons. Sure, the inequality between the rich and poor is as bad as ever, but the mega-rich are not as mega-rich anymore, by comparision. So, its a wash. Also: Entrepreneurship alive and well: Door to door salesman is selling "We don't buy from the doorstep" signs. Sure, its a con, but you have to admire the guy who thought this up and actually pulled it off. Sounds a lot like something I would do on a dare. @ 02:51 AM CST [Link] Gallery of mini-comics that came with Atari 2600 games. Probably not worth reading, but they do have kitsch value. They're surprisingly well drawn for promotional items.
Also: Well written article on kitsch over at the wikipedia.
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